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The WISE Community Has Its Say

The WISE Community Has Its Say

The WISE Community Has Its Say

Since its inception in 2009, WISE has established itself as one of the foremost educational initiatives in the world. In many different ways, WISE celebrates and promotes innovative educational projects that work throughout the world and helps them expand and spread their influence in very practical terms, very often through partnerships and collaboration. From time to time, members of the WISE community write to us to confirm the impact that WISE and the WISE network have had on their working lives. The following testimonials tell their stories.

"WISE is a true movement with a deeply ingrained mission to improve the worldwide state of education."

“We love being part of the organisation's continuous search to foster creative, innovative and disruptive ideas that have the true capacity to improve teaching & learning. Our journey with WISE & the Qatar Foundation has been amazing. I consider it a true personal and professional privilege to be part of the WISE family."

"It has been an honour to be recognized by and associated with Qatar Foundation’s WISE over the years"

“From speaking engagements, participating in panel discussions, attending knowledge-sharing forums, getting published in reports, to winning the 2014 WISE Award – the recognition, networking and partnership opportunities provided to Educate Girls on such a prestigious global platform has unparalleled value. It has been highly motivating to be able to interact with influential and inspirational social change makers, like HH Sheikha Moza, Michelle Obama and Julia Gillard, to name a few. The very fact that WISE has allied with us from a nascent stage, and still continues to, speaks greatly about the fact that they invest in the cause they believe in and are willing to stand with you while helping you grow."

"WISE is an incredible connecting platform for people who are determined and committed to innovate in education."

“It's been an incredibly exciting period for us since the last WISE Summit, as we aggressively pursue our strategy to build a movement of 30,000 teacher change-makers across India and East Africa, impacting learning for over a million children by 2017. We have now raised over $6m in funding commitments since inception from 17 of the world's leading donors, including USAID, DFID, MacArthur, MasterCard, ARK and UBS Optimus. We have embarked on a strategy of training and supporting 21 leading education NGOs to embed our teacher change-maker methodology into their school networks and programs, including close WISE partners Pratham, Bharti Foundation, PEAS, Educate Girls and Room to Read. And, with strong support from the Indian national government, we have signed a formal partnership with India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, to support them to run a search for micro-innovations and teacher change-makers across 200,000 government primary schools..." Read more

"Every year I look forward to attending the conference and joining the community that has offered me so many life-changing experiences."

“Joining the WISE community has been a really stimulating and exciting life changing experience. I have participated as a keynote speaker, session speaker, Pre-Juror on the WISE Prize, Workshop facilitator and network coordinator. Through the years I have met some outstanding individuals and made some great lifelong friends. The community has supported me in a range of ways and a particular highlight has been the formation of an international leadership network of female educators, which includes some of the most inspiring women of our generation. Every year I look forward to attending the conference and joining the community that has offered me so many life-changing experiences. Education truly has the power to change minds and lives, and I hope that through my continued involvement with WISE I might continue to transform lives through my own work and through engagement with the WISE community of which I am so proud to be a part.”

"Winning the 2009 WISE Award has increased the visibility of our education-that-pays-for-itself model and the replication program carried out by TeachAManToFish."

“Winning the 2009 WISE Award has increased the visibility of our education-that-pays-for-itself model and the replication program carried out by TeachAManToFish. Media coverage as well as networking has also opened new opportunities which we are pursuing at the moment and which may lead to new partnerships in the future.”

"it has provided me with a unique opportunity to meet with educators of every type, not only those providing education in more affluent countries but those serving communities in the poorest parts of the world."

“What is remarkable about WISE is the range of participants that it attracts. You really get the sense that it reflects the complexity and diversity of international educational practice. In this way it has provided me with a unique opportunity to meet with educators of every type, not only those providing education in more affluent countries but those serving communities in the poorest parts of the world. It has allowed me to reflect not so much on how we can provide education, but how we can ensure, wherever we are, that it is education of the highest quality.”

"we are optimistic that the increased awareness and visibility elevated globally through WISE will soon lead us to scaling our best practices around the world so that our learning can serve more students.”

“The Cristo Rey Network's Corporate Work Study Program provides a new dimension for learning and has changed the education landscape for low-income students through an innovative model that partners with corporate America in the U.S. While our program has impressive success, the WISE Award has enabled us to further strengthen our program. Specifically, we have launched the development of a four-year ‘Workplace Training Curriculum’ to improve the social and technical skills students gain by working in entry-level corporate jobs in high school. Further, we are optimistic that the increased awareness and visibility elevated globally through WISE will soon lead us to scaling our best practices around the world so that our learning can serve more students.”

"We started a three-year journey of collaboration. This is the butterfly effect."

"While attending WISE, I opened my mind to new perspectives through listening to participants’ different opinions and contributions to the discussions and lectures. I met participants from around the world from different organizations and disciplines gathered for the objective of education and connected with them through Workshops and lunches and dinners. I met Gillian Browser in a Workshop for women leadership at WISE 2013. We exchanged cards, I followed up with an email. Gillian suggested applying for a PEER USAID/NSF grant, and we corresponded via email and Skype in writing the proposal. I won the PEER award three weeks ago for a project for mentoring women in academia entitled “Three circles of Alemat”. We started a three-year journey of collaboration. This is the butterfly effect."

"It has given us access to important political arenas where education in conflicts is discussed, which further enables us to change attitudes and policies for the long-term benefit of children."

“We are immensely proud to have won the WISE Award. It has been a great recognition of our groundbreaking work on education in conflict-affected fragile states. It has raised our profile as an agency that can deliver for children at scale. It has given us access to important political arenas where education in conflicts is discussed, which further enables us to change attitudes and policies for the long-term benefit of children. This will greatly help us gain support for our work in the future and develop productive partnerships, ultimately achieving more for children who are still denied an education.”